Pokemon the Series: YX
by Ray Harrington
Summary: A boy journeys in a region infested with danger at every turn, with two eccentric blond siblings and an unpredictable childhood friend being his only allies. Still a better alternative than home. AU taking place in the Mirror Universe, based on XY037
1. The Starter of Ash's Journey

Chapters 1-2 have been merged and revised!

* * *

"Can't you do anything right?!"

The ears of a young meek boy were assaulted by a womanly, shrill, high-pitched voice. He had been listening out for the loud clanking on the hallway floors that his mother's heels caused, but she still managed to surprise him with just how loud and bossy she could be. He put his hands over his ears, though it didn't help much.

"W-What did... what did I do now?" the shivering boy stammered, readying himself for anything that she threw at him.

"Ash Ketchum, do I even have to say it!?" He cowered in fear as the woman went on another tirade. "Your clothes are all rumpled! And that hat!" The older woman waved her hand in front of her nose to signal 'you stink.' "How can you expect to be a Pokemon trainer if you can't take care of _yourself_? I'm coming back in ten minutes, and you better be presentable! You are an embarrassment! Come on, Mimey, we'll wait for him in the living room."

The growths on each side of the Barrier Pokemon's head - were they ears or horns? No one he asked seemed to know the answer aside from his mother, whom he avoided asking for obvious reasons - drooped down as it used its telekinetic abilities to place an ironing board in front of Ash, who didn't even bother looking at their retreating figures. He knew if he tried to tell his mother that he would be wearing a jacket over his shirt, which was the only article of clothing that could be considered rumpled, he would be punished for back-talking. He just couldn't stand it anymore. No matter what he did, his mom couldn't be pleased. He tried so hard to get in her good graces, but he only seemed to slip farther from them each time. Most people who knew her would describe her as sweet and loving, but that was all an act. Only one other person had known about her true self, but she had long moved far away from Pallet Town.

Outside of the presence of other people, his mother complained tirelessly at him, and even her own -

"Mr. Mime, what is THIS?!" He heard her shout from the hallway.

Mimey gave a groan of dread, knowing that being called by the name that its species was known by meant serious trouble.

Ash didn't know how Mimey had put up with her for as long as it had, but he had had enough. He was not going to stand for this any longer. He was going to get his first Pokemon without her help. Professor Oak had already given away his starters, as he had for the past few weeks. Ash had started to suspect that the professor was deliberately not leaving any Pokemon for him, but of course no one would believe it; they would just say he was making excuses for why things didn't go the way he planned.

All hope wasn't lost, however; he could still go all the way to Unova or Kalos. Their native professors wouldn't be giving out their starters for at least a few days, but this would give him enough time to get acquainted to either of the two regions and most of their Pokemon, provided nothing went wrong. Unova seemed like a better alternative, since it was said to be farther from the other regions, although Kalos had less known Pokemon specific to it. Therefore, by the time he would be able to pick a starter, he would already be better acquainted with it. Plus, he actually knew someone who lived there, although the chances of actually seeing her were slim. On the other hand, Unova's major tourist attractions like Undella Bay appealed to him more. In the end, he didn't care how far he had to go or where he ended up, anywhere was better than here.

He quietly opened his window, and looked down. Could he get down from this height? What if he crashed and his mother had to help him back into the house? He'd be in even worse trouble... but he couldn't stay here and do nothing. He looked at his clock, its ticking noises audible in the quietness of the room. Seven minutes left... now six.

It was now or never. He slowly climbed out of the window with his backpack strapped on his back, then jumped out, landing on the grass. The fall wasn't nearly as bad as it looked from his room. He looked around, and saw that Mr. Mime was on lookout, as per usual. He ran to the other side, and rushed into an invisible wall, courtesy of said Mr. Mime. He spread his hands out to try and navigate his way through the maze of invisible barriers that the mime had created. He ducked under the ground behind his backpack as Mr. Mime turned around to his direction. Luckily for him, Gary Oak, one of Ash's childhood friends, arrived before anything else could be done.

A slight smile formed on Ash's face as Mr. Mime was forced to let down the invisible barriers in order for Gary to pass through. He had to go now. He was running out of time. He imagined that he only had about three minutes left, maybe less. He didn't need a map to know how to get to Viridian City, bolting to the direction where it was located. Professor Oak had always gone there for flights to other regions.

"Hey, you can't go through tall grass without a Pokemon!" someone shouted at him, but he didn't listen. His mother was scarier than any wild Pokemon that he had ever heard of or encountered. By now, she had probably searched all around the house due to Gary's arrival and found out he was gone. "Hey, get back here, kid!" This only prompted Ash to run faster, knowing that either his mother or her Mimey may have heard the man shouting at him.

He was growing increasingly tired, but he didn't stop for even a second. Otherwise, he would die, whether it be from the hands of his mother or the flock of Spearow he had heard about. He then tripped and rolled down a cliff, crashing into an orange-haired girl.

"I-I'm sorry, miss..." Ash stammered.

"Ty!" The girl finished for him, getting up and extending a hand to him. "Misty!" He took it, and she hoisted him up. "Would you like some carrot soup? It might be a little spicy, but it's not too overwhelming."

"Sure! Give me a minute!" He went behind a tree and grabbed a thermos from his bag, and then spare clothes. He came out a minute later, now wearing a hat with a backwards curvy "L" on the front, a dark green undershirt with a blue and white jacket covering it. Its yellow pockets were inside out. His pants were light blue, and his shoes were black and white with a red circle on each one. He had gotten the outfit on his sixth birthday as a gift, but it was too big for him at the time. Now, it was a perfect fit. He figured that no one would recognize him as long as he put his shirt above the marks on his cheeks, but he couldn't do that at all times.

Misty poured some soup on the thermos he had opened. He thanked her and ran off.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Misty called out after him.

"Gotta go now, bye!" Ash responded without looking back.

Suddenly, a pair of claws grabbed his shirt from behind and hoisted him into the air. Next to him was Misty, also in the air. Ash yelled when he saw what was forcing them upward: A pair of large, brown stag beetles barely bigger than them, each of them having two spiked horns on their heads.

"Let us go!" Ash wailed, flailing and kicking the air.

Misty winked at him. "You won't be able to get there by foot! Where are you going, anyway?"

Ash hesitated for a moment. He was originally going to say Viridian City, which is where he was originally going, but his mother would probably see him there, as it was the next major location after their town of Pallet. She would not let a horde of Spearow stop her. "Vermilion City."

Misty's jaw dropped in disbelief. "There's no way you could have possibly got there on foot! Now hang on to your hat - " Ash took the literal approach and pressed his hat onto his head. "Cause here we go!"

The two creatures, without warning, made a sharp turn and flew right. Ash yelled out for a bit, until he realized what was at stake. He clenched his teeth together and remained quiet, even as his insides lurched in every direction imaginable.

"You get used to it after a bit." Misty glanced at him. "So what's your name?"

Ash made up a fake name on the spot, not feeling quite as queasy. "Cooper."

"Nice to meet you!"

Before Ash knew it, they had arrived at the location. Ash stepped on solid ground and looked up at Misty, who was still hovering. "Thanks so much!" He couldn't believe it. He was far away from Pallet Town. The farthest he had ever gone without adult supervision. This girl didn't know what she did for him.

"It's nothing." Ash's brain processed those two words as the redhead followed him to the nearby airport. Ash had first tried to set up a reservation in Unova, but all of the plane tickets had already sold out, so he chose Kalos instead. He had been just in time, as there were only two tickets left. His plane would take off in thirty minutes. "Where are you going from here?" By now, his mother must have realized that he was no longer in Pallet Town.

Ash took a sip of his thermos, and then swallowed hard. "I've... decided I'll go to the Kalos region, and be... the best." In truth, there was more to his dreams than just that, though he had never actually voiced them to anyone.

"Cool! I want to master bug-types, myself! Though I don't like battling as much as my sisters," she admitted, looking at Ash's belt, before setting her backpack on the bench and taking out a glass container with a colored egg. "I want you to have this."

"Really?" Ash asked, in awe. "Are you sure? But... why?"

"Positive." Misty smiled at him, not answering his last question.

Ash could almost cry at this show of gratitude. She had already done so much for him, and now he was getting an egg? It seemed like he chose the perfect day to run away from home. He ran to her, but Misty put a hand in front of herself to stop him. "BUT." Ash stopped immediately at her voice. He knew there was a catch! "You have to tell me all about Viola, and about all of the cool bug types you find!"

Ash slowly blinked. For the huge favor she had done for him, she wasn't asking much. "Viola's the bug type gym leader of Kalos, right?" he asked for clarification.

Misty nodded in confirmation.

The two of them embraced each other, when a deep, booming voice yelled through the speakers, "ALL FLIGHT 719 PASSENGERS, PLEASE CLIMB ABOARD."

"Goodbye, Misty," Ash said, almost in tears.

"Hey, you remembered my name!" She smiled. "I'll be seeing you around." She gave him her Holo Caster contact information.

"I don't have a Holo Caster," Ash told her quietly, blushing under her gaze. "I do have a Pokegear, though." He rolled his left sleeve to show off a dull, grey wristwatch. His mother was too cheap or inconsiderate to buy him anything better than an outdated Pokegear. He never really found a use for it, since his friends were all nearby, and it didn't have the amazing features that the other, newer contact devices had. He had listened to the radio shows that it had to offer for the first few weeks, but then stopped using it after getting tired of listening to the same songs over and over again.

Misty stifled a laugh. "Those went out of style five years ago! But I guess I'll dust off my old one and call you." She removed the egg from the container and placed it in his hand, before walking away.

"Wait!" Ash got her attention. For all she had done to him, he could at least repay her in some way, no matter how small. He stared into her eyes, and then smiled at her.

"My name's Ash."

Misty stared blankly at him.

"Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town."

* * *

It had been hours since Ash stepped into the plane and took his seat.

Between his fear of a plane crash and dislike of loud noises, the plane ride was less-than-pleasant for him. He had never even fallen asleep, having been too busy watching the Champion's League matches on the TV plastered in front of him. The current match airing was Cynthia vs. Alder, two known champions of Sinnoh and Unova, respectively. He imagined himself in Alder's place, battling Cynthia's fierce Garchomp. He never got to see the conclusion, because the plane boarded on the huge Lumiose City. He was finally in the Kalos region! Away from home, away from Mom, away from everything...

Ash took the egg from the seat next to him and stepped down the plane. He had to admit that he was more than a bit nervous in the big city. Whereas Pallet Town was small, compact, and easy to navigate, Lumiose City was large, easy to get lost in, and had lots of paths. But he had to put his uncertainty and fear aside if he wanted to start a journey. He looked at his Pokegear for the map, but it didn't update and still showed the maps of the Kanto and Johto regions, but he guessed he should have expected it from an ancient device that hadn't been touched in years. The only other region on the map was Johto,so he asked a nearby boy for directions to the Professor's lab, following the path he was told to go in.

He had seen a bunch of small buildings, but hadn't gotten to the lab yet. He was embarrassed to have to keep asking random people for directions. He felt like he was going in circles, which he most likely was. Eventually, he found himself in front of a building that looked more like a fancy hospital than a laboratory.

 _I wonder if this is the right one,_ he told himself, softly knocking on the door.

No answer. He should have known he had just wasting time. He turned around and got ready to head back, when said door slightly creaked open. Ash slowly tiptoed closer to it, sure that he was in a trap. He fished into his backpack for anything that he could use to light up the building, but found nothing. His hand tightly gripped the doorknob and opened the door wider so that some light from the outside would come in. It wasn't much, but it was the only thing he had.

Ash slowly crept into the dimly lit room, still holding on to the egg he was given. Besides a wait desk, a few chairs, a few papers scattered on the floor, and a dusty elevator, there wasn't much to the lab. Despite its somewhat messy condition, it still had the new lab smell. Ash still thought he had been at the wrong place, but decided to check thoroughly just in case. Now in front of the elevator, his finger jammed a button on the side of it that was shaped like an "up" arrow, but nothing happened. The arrow didn't flash or make any sound to indicate that it worked, which meant that it had to be broken.

"I can fix that!" declared a voice from... above him?

A blonde boy in a light blue jumpsuit landed on the ground above him, landing on his feet. His thumb traced a circle around the button, then pressed it. The green icon dimly flashed, and a ding was heard as the elevator's doors slowly and miraculously opened.

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Ash asked him, his eyes widened in amazement.

"Call it magic," the boy joked. "You coming or not - Bonnie! I told you to stay behind!"

Behind them was a little girl with her blonde hair in a side ponytail. She wore pajamas in the shape of a dinosaur-like Pokemon, though Ash couldn't remember if it was Tyrunt or Tyrantrum.

"I was lonely in the gym alone. Heliolisk won't play with me!" she whined.

The boy sighed as the three of them headed into the dark elevator. Clemont pressed the button that would take them into the next floor.

"I'm Clemont, and this is my little sister, Bonnie," the blond male introduced, as the elevator took them higher and higher.

"I never saw you here," Bonnie pointed out.

"Just call me Ash," the black-haired boy began slowly. "I just came here from Pallet Town."

Clemont's mouth gaped open. "Is that far?" Bonnie asked.

Ash nodded slowly, looking away from their stares. As the elevator door opened, the three of them were treated to the most horrible sights of their lives. Clemont had to cover Bonnie's eyes so she wouldn't see it. A yellow rodent with a zigzag tail and red cheeks was trapped inside of a glass container attached to a rusty machine. Its wails of pain echoed in the room as electricity was forced out of it and into the machine. It was unable to do anything about the predicament that it was in. Three Poke Balls were also attached to the machine. The machine seemed to be malfunctioning as thick, black smoke came out of the sides and the tools used to create it seemed to be grinding together.

There was no mistaking it; the Pokemon was trapped and being experimented on, and the person making this all happen was...

"Professor Sycamore..." Ash whispered to himself, still unable to believe what he saw. He was a wavy-haired man with a purple shirt, a white lab coat, and black pants. Many girls would have described him as good-looking. Like Professor Oak, he was well-renowned in his respective region. Bowing in front of him were two others: One was a dirty-blonde man with neatly combed hair, and the other was a dark-skinned young woman with somewhat messy violet hair. They both wore masks covering the top half of their faces, so their features couldn't be fully made out, though Ash noticed a tinge of red on the woman's cheeks.

Ash shook in fear. What could he do? He didn't even have any Pokemon, which was why he was here in the first place. This was far more than he bargained for.

Professor Sycamore whipped out a Pokedex and pointed it at the three unopened Poke Balls. _"Protean. Bulletproof. Magician."_ a mechanical voice said from the device, which was then pointed at Pikachu. _"Lightning Rod."_

Clemont led Ash and Bonnie behind an empty table, and Ash began dialing the police on his Pokegear.

"Officer Jenny? Are you there? Three people are experimenting on Pokemon." He wanted to say who they were, but didn't think she would believe him, or at least not believe Professor Sycamore would do something like that. Not that he would blame them; if someone would have told him just minutes ago that Professor Sycamore was doing these kinds of things, he would have immediately dismissed it as a false rumor. With barely-suppressed sobs, he added, "Professor Sycamore's _lab_ , Lumiose City, top floor." He made sure to emphasize the word "lab" so that it didn't seem like he was accusing the professor.

"Great job, Ash," Clemont whispered to him. "We'll need to stall them until the police forces come." He tapped a button on his Poke Ball and called forth a dusty rabbit-like Pokemon.

"B-But how? I don't have anything!" sobbed Ash, much louder than he intended. He closed his mouth with his hands, but they had already been discovered.

"Intruder alert!" Professor Sycamore exclaimed, heading towards an open window. "Sina, Dexio, you know what to do in case of intruders!" He jumped off the window without waiting for any sort of response from anyone.

A grey, bipedal rabbit-esque creature emerged from one of Clemont's Pokeballs. Its ears and feet were tipped with a thin layer of brown fur that more closely resembled mud. A thick scarf of fur encircled Bunnelby's neck, and spots of mud ran through its hind legs all the way to its backside. It also had a stubby tail. Its scarf-like fur was much thicker and poofier than most others of its species that Ash had seen when researching the Kalos region, and the dirt-colored dots were usually limited to a few on its right back leg. He didn't know much more about its biology, though.

"Bunnelby, Mud Shot," Clemont ordered.

Bombs of mud were hurled at the machine from its mouth, rendering it useless. The electric mouse stopped yelling in pain.

"Get Pikachu, and I'll take care of the rest!" Clemont ordered, as he jumped over the table he was hiding behind and ran towards the two of them. With its ears, Bunnelby punched them to a wall, some mud residue from them sticking the masked duo to it.

The female of the duo yelled angrily, "Look what you did to me! I can't come in like this! What's Professor Sycamore gonna say when he sees me like this? YOU'LL PAY!" Her coworker tried to calm her down, but to no avail.

While the two were distracted, Clemont and Bunnelby separated the three Poke Balls from the machine. Ash gave his egg to Bonnie to hold, then kicked the glass that the yellow creature was trapped in. It wobbled with each strike, and with one final kick, the rodent was free! It crawled on Ash's shoulder.

"Aww, he likes you!" Bonnie remarked, scratching under its chin.

The two of them spat mud from their mouths into one gooey pile. The substance split to reveal two shrunk Poke Balls being covered. They opened up to reveal two unfamiliar Pokemon. One was a small white creature with a cloudy halo around its head, holding the pellet of a flower larger than it. The other was a pink avian creature with a large white break. It smelled quite good, but the fragrance was strong.

Clemont put his arms out, standing in front of Bonnie in a protective stance. "Get ready." he said to Ash, as Bunnelby hopped in front of him. Pikachu followed suit, taking its place next to Bunnelby on all fours and growling at the two unknown Pokemon. Its ears perked up as it eagerly awaited a command.

Ash reflected back on a book that he was given for his eighth birthday, which featured many of the Kanto native Pokemon and their moves. He knew Pikachu's basic moves, of course, but wasn't sure about the one in front of him. He pointed at the good-smelling Pokemon. "Shock it!"

Pikachu discharged a bolt of electricity, aimed perfectly at its target.

"Role Play." The female simply watched as the pink Pokemon eyed Pikachu intently. Its hairs stood on end right when the attack struck it, but it didn't hurt it one bit. In fact, it actually seemed to like it. Pikachu tried again to shock the other opposing creature, but the electricity redirected to the same target as before.

Meanwhile, Bunnelby was occupied with the vines coming out of the flower. It just couldn't seem to find an opening to attack. It managed to bounce over the appendages, and was coming down on its opponent. Right before it struck, colorful leaves shot from the flower and hit it. Bunnelby ended up crashing in front of its owner.

"Spritzee, blow them away! Fairy Wind!"

Spritzee turned out to be the pink avian-like creature. A thick, strong gust of pink-colored wind was whipped from its wings, particles of sparkling dust forming as the mysterious energy was then spread to hit everyone, including Bonnie. As the attack sent her flying, the egg slipped through her fingers and was flung through the air, falling too far from everyone to be retrieved safely. Ash watched in despair as it got closer to being smashed on the wall, and then let out a sigh of relief when a gloved pair of hands appeared through the windows and caught it just in the nick of time. Another pair of hands caught Bonnie before she could crash. That wasn't the end of it as a pair of claws slashed Spritzee and its partner.

"Flabebe!" its owner cried, and turned to the desk. "Not you three again! How'd you even find us?!"

Clemont and Bonnie shared a smile, as if they knew something Ash didn't. Ash tilted his head around to see two people standing on it. One was a woman with oddly-shaped magenta hair, a white blouse and dress, and long black boots, and the other was a man with lavender hair wearing a male version of the outfit. Their tops both had a bold, red letter "R" on them. There was a bipedal cat with a charm on its head and a foot on each of their heads. Ash stared at them in awe, wondering who they were.

"The Heroes of Justice..." Bonnie and Clemont gushed.

"That's right!" the Meowth continued.

Not for the first time, Ash was flabbergasted. "Y-You can talk?!"

"Prepare yourself..." The tall woman sent out an ethereal, floating pumpkin creature. Her voice had an air of class to it.

Her colleague's suave voice didn't go unheard, either. "...for Team Rocket's might!" From his Poke Ball came a blue squid with a pink hat-like mantle that had circular yellow lights. Two large tentacles came from the mantle and hung next to its six short arms.

"Good night!" concluded everyone, except Ash, of course.

James grimaced. "This pose isn't working."

Ash had his doubts about the three. "They're going to -"

"We've got this!" Meowth pounced off of their heads and in front of Bunnelby and Pikachu. Inkay and Pumpkaboo hovered to him.

"H-Hey, five against two isn't fair!" the two whined.

"How about eight on two, then?" Clemont taunted, tossing three ball capsules into the air. Three red beams materialized into a light blue frog with foamy bubbles around its neck, an upright porcupine with hard protective headgear, and a cream-colored fox with fire-shaped fur coming from its ears. He would have sent them out earlier, but didn't have an opening at the time.

As if on cue, the oval object that Ash was holding began to glow brightly. Any other time, he would have taken the time to admire it, but this was an urgent situation. What hatched from it was a brown moth with white fur on its upper body that formed a mask around its blue eyes. On the bottom of its body were six stubby legs. Five fiery horns emerged from its fur.

Ash admired it for a brief second, before focusing back on the battle. Attacks were being thrown everywhere, and the two masked criminals were trying their best to avoid them all, but defending yourself against eight Pokemon wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. Pikachu was forced to watch the others get action, knowing his electric attacks would do no good. In less than a minute, Spritzee and Flababe were downed and recalled.

Their owners decided to make a quick retreat, but strings coming out of the newly hatched Pokemon tripped them up. With their two Pokemon now gone, an agitated Pikachu shocked the two into near unconsciousness.

Police sirens sounded off in everyone's ears as dozens of motorcycles and police cars surrounded the building. Sina and Dexio were then escorted out by two pretty blue-haired officers, and thrown into the back of a police car to be taken to jail. The taller one of the two then approached the heroes.

"The police report said there were three of them," she began. "Which one of you is Ash?"

Ash raised his hand meekly. He might have been proud of himself had Professor Sycamore not managed to escape.

"What did the third look like?"

Ash tried his best to describe him in a way that wouldn't link back to the professor, though he didn't need to, as the cat cut in, "A lotta black hair, nicely combed! He wore a freshly ironed suit! No stains! Couldn't get much more on him, but we tried our best!" he cried dramatically, falling to his knees.

"It's okay, everyone gave it their all, and we caught two criminals," the officer insisted, calming him down.

"Me? I couldn't do anyt - "

"Two out of three isn't so bad, is it?" she interrupted Ash.

Ash's head remained down. Sure, he had led the police here, but what else? Now completely lost in his thoughts, he thought of how helpless he had been. What would have happened if no one else had been there? He had cast aside his fears, but he still sucked. He couldn't be that helpless again.

"It's alright!" Clemont put an arm around his shoulder. "I can show you around the way, and tell you everything you need to know. It'll be just like magic!" He then gave the three Poke Balls containing the starters to Officer Jenny and told her what the professor's Pokedex said about them.

"Are you two coming?" Bonnie asked.

"Of course!" Ash and Clemont cried out, running after her.

Clemont laughed. "I never knew you to be so excitable!" He then turned to the Kanto native. "So, I don't usually allow new trainers into my gym until they have at least four badges, but you show promise. How would you like to battle me after we register you?" Clemont offered to Ash.

"I'm not sure about that..." Ash answered honestly. He had just came here, and he was expected to take on someone with much more experience? What did Clemont see in him?

"Come on, it'll be fun! Please?" Bonnie pleaded.

"Sure, I guess." Ash gave in after a while.

"Then it's settled! To the Pokemon Center!" Clemont shouted, taking off in a flash. He was gone within just a few seconds, so Bonnie had to lead Ash there.

"Oh, brother," she grumbled with a slight smile on her face.

The heroes watched the two until they were out of sight.

Meowth sighed. "It seems we're on our own here."

* * *

"Who did you say was there?"

Professor Sycamore's Holo Caster showed a hologram of an elderly, old man.

"Didn't stop to see who it was," Professor Sycamore replied. "I left Sina and Dexio to take care of him. Whoever he is, he's no threat. Have you two found the boy, by the way?"

"What did I tell you? You can never be too prepared," the older man told him. "And no, we haven't. We found footprints leading to Viridian City, but he's still nowhere to be found. Oh! I almost forgot; my escort and I will be heading to the Kalos region next week for some research! I still can't seem to figure out how the treatment and well-being of Pokemon and Mega Evolution are connected! And yes, I will have the starters ready by then."

Professor Sycamore nodded, and the old man cackled in response. He didn't see a brunette boy with his hair spiked up sneak past his lab to watch TV.


	2. Serene Memories Reborn

Chapters 3/4 have been merged and revised!

* * *

"Heroes of Justice, reporting for duty!"

A middle-aged man in an bright orange suit was shown on a large screen, though his area was shadowed. Despite his suit color of choice plus the sleeping Persian curled up on his lap, he still managed to look classy, yet scary.

"What's the status report?" the man asked the three, his voice breaking up a bit. The screen flickered every now and then.

The two humans told him everything that had happened after they entered the lab, their talking cat getting little input in-between. After they were finished, the older man smiled at them.

"Good work, you three. You've earned a break. You'll be needed in a few hours for a new mission."

"Thank you so much, boss Giovanni, sir!" Meowth yelled out immediately afterwards. "We promise not to let you down!"

"I know you won't."

Those were the last words spoken in that particular call before the connection was cut.

* * *

"We should go to the cafe after your battle!" Bonnie exclaimed, as Pikachu jumped on her head. She didn't seem to mind that at all.

"Yeah! I'm psyched for this!" Ash declared, sounding way more excited than he actually was.

"It's over there!" Bonnie pointed to the right, before she and Ash entered a large building with two Poke Ball symbols: One on the door, another above it on the Pokemon Center itself. They didn't see Clemont anywhere.

Bonnie sighed. "Do you think he's already in the gym?"

Ash said nothing as he approached the nurse and placed his two Pokemon on the desk separating him from the pink-haired nurse. Bonnie waited for him on the bench.

"Welcome to the Pokemon Center! I'll take your Pokemon for a few seconds." the lady told him, as she took the two Pokemon to a room. Less than a minute later, she returned, with his Pokemon looking fresher than ever.

"Your Pikachu and Larvesta are in perfect condition! You've been assigned with the trainer ID of 71913. Here, your new Pokedex!" Nurse Joy handed it to him, and he admired it for a few seconds. "Just go to the Poke Mart beside you, and you'll be given a few Poke Balls to start off! I hope to see you again!" she said, as Larvesta crawled back into Ash's arms, while Pikachu took its place on Bonnie's head.

"Thanks a lot for everything, and I hope to see you, too!" Ash greeted in return, as he got his needed items from the Poke Mart next to the section of the Pokemon Center that the nurse worked at. _Pikachu and Larvesta, huh? Not a bad start..._ Bonnie then dragged him out of the building and led him to a large lighthouse.

"I thought we were going to the gym?" Ash questioned.

"We're coming in!" Bonnie said, misinterpreting his confusion, right before they entered it.

The inside of the gym looked almost like an empty disco room with a giant elevator on top. Every building in the Kalos region so far seemed to have an elevator, Ash noted, as the two of them used it to get to the next floor, where they were treated to a screen depicting a silhouette of a Pikachu. Ash's Pikachu looked at it curiously.

"That's a quiz you have to do so you can fight him. Since you're invited here, we can skip all those," Bonnie explained to him, before they took a few more elevators, making it all the way to the top floor. It was basically a large battlefield with colorful line tracings on the ground.

Clemont was on the other side of the field, frowning at the two of them. "What took you two so long?"

"Sorry, we - " Ash began to apologize.

"It's fine!" Clemont cut him off, adjusting the lopsided hat on his head. "Those are your only two Pokemon, correct?"

Ash nodded at him.

"All right, then this will be a two on two battle with Bonnie as the referee!" Clemont announced, extending an arm to his little sister, who had started her refereeing almost as soon as Clemont finished.

"This battle ends when all of the Pokemon on both sides can't battle! Good luck to one side!" she recited, bowing. She quickly realized the mistake she made, and tried to rectify it. "I mean, one side! Good luck, both teams!"

Clemont whipped out a stick from out of nowhere and waved it over blank space. Snow white particles of dust emerged from this action, and then parted to reveal a Poke Ball. It opened up by itself to reveal a small lizard with large blue eyes and yellow and black colors. "Helioptile, come on out!" its owner announced.

Ash took out his Pokedex and pointed it at Helioptile. A robotic voice echoed these words: _"Helioptile, the Generator Pokemon. They make their home in deserts. They can generate their energy from basking in the sun, so eating food is not a requirement. Type: Electric/Normal."_

"What should I use?" Ash asked himself. "Pikachu would be my best choice, but on the other hand, Larvesta has more options. It's so hard... Larvesta, are you ready?" Larvesta made a buzzing sound in return to signify its bravery in the face of battle. Even though it just hatched mere hours ago, it was still courageous. Ash had to be, too. He couldn't let down his Pokemon.

Ash let Larvesta into the battlefield to face its opponent, but not before scanning its moves. _"Ember, String Shot, Flame Charge."_

"Helioptile, Wild Charge!" Clemont yelled, and his Pokemon opened its frills and ran at Larvesta. Electricity was generated from them as it picked up more speed, its whole body soon becoming surrounded by lightning.

 _That looks strong!_ Ash thought. "Larvesta, Flame Charge around it, then attack from behind!" he countered. He saw Alder use a similar strategy with Larvesta's evolved form (which he forgot the name of) on his plane ride and recalled that a successful use of Flame Charge boosted speed, which would really help.

Its five horns glowed as flames emerged from them and swirled around it. Then, it rushed towards its opponent in a similar fashion as the Helioptile was doing but at the last minute, it swerved around the electric attack. The electricity around Helioptile dissipated when its attack missed, and it was then rammed from behind. The fiery attack sent it tumbling down to the ground, its singed fur gathering a bit of dust as it got back up.

Ash's heart soared. _I'm doing it! I hope I can keep it up!_

Clemont wasn't deterred, though. "Charge yourself, and thundershock."

An orb of lightning formed around Helioptile, and then its long ears opened up once again as the ball converted into multiple jolts of electricity that were sent towards Larvesta.

"Larvesta, guard with Ember!" Ash yelled urgently, as small fire bullets shot from its horns in a feeble attempt to protect it. Helioptile's attack easily overpowered the weak flames and struck Larvesta. It winced as its body was shocked beyond anything it had ever felt for the few hours it had been alive.

Without relenting, Clemont ordered another Thundershock. Ash, having no strategy on the spot, just watched as Helioptile's frills spread apart once again. Just as they produced more electricity, an idea came to him. _I've got it!_ "Larvesta, String Shot to close its ears!" He hoped he wasn't too late.

Thick strands of string came from its mouth and wrapped around the opponent's frills that it used to generate electricity, closing them tightly and shutting down its incoming attack.

"Now, hang on tight and use Flame Charge!" Again, Larvesta shot off like a fiery rocket while restraining Helioptile.

"Concentrate a Rain Dance around yourself!" Clemont commanded, as an almost solid cloud of mist was sprayed from the lizard's mouth, forming into a rain cloud. It was small, but the drops of water falling from the makeshift cloud were potent. Larvesta managed to hit the Helioptile, but the rain severely weakened the attack. The fire bug wailed as the droplets rained down on it, steam emerging from its body. The wads of string around Helipotile had weakened, enabling it to tear them apart easily. "Hidden Power!"

Without warning, Helioptile shot orbs that were the same color as its eyes from its mouth at the Torch Pokemon, the orbs making a watery explosion on impact. Ash stood there in shock as another, larger cloud of steam formed around the two Pokemon, covering his vision.

"Larvesta, are you up? Try and use String Shot again!" Ash pleaded desperately, but the field was cleared to reveal Larvesta on the ground, unmoving. He didn't need Bonnie's refereeing to tell him that Larvesta couldn't battle. "No!" He ran up to it and scooped it up in his arms. "I'm so sorry, Larvesta. Here, take a good rest." He gently tapped its head with a Poke Ball and then went back to his side of the field, noticeably more worried. Only about a minute passed, and he had already lost a Pokemon, while Clemont still had two. Things had gone so wrong so quickly. What did that say about him as a trainer?

"Pikachu, you're up next," he said, not as confidently as before.

Pikachu hopped from Bonnie's head and landed in front of Helioptile, who was recalled. Clemont removed the hat that he was wearing and held it out in front of him. A pair of twitching ears with pink insides emerged from it, then Bunnelby's form hopped from the headwear onto the field between Pikachu and Clemont. Bonnie squealed when the hat trick was done.

In his dejection, Ash forgot to scan the Pokemon. Again, Clemont made the first move, "Bunnelby, go for a Rollout attack!" Bunnelby jumped into the air and curled its limbs together, before descending towards Pikachu like a wrecking ball.

"Pikachu, jump back, then use Thundershock," Ash instructed his Pokemon, as Pikachu hopped away from the ball form of Bunnelby. Pikachu then prepared to shock it, but it uncurled and spat small globs of mud on Pikachu's face, blinding it. The electric type stopped its attack to wipe its eyes, which gave Clemont more than enough time to have his Pokemon slap it with its ears multiple times. Ash desperately tried to come up with something, anything that could stop it. However, Pikachu was taken down within just a few seconds, and so were Ash's spirits.

"Both of them can't fight," Bonnie announced, trying not to sound too harsh. "Clemont wins!"

Ash picked up Pikachu from the ground and slowly cradled it. He prepared to place it in a Poke Ball, but it shook its head.

"All right, let's just go," he whispered.

"Ash!" Clemont called, he and Bonnie approaching him. "Great match!"

"You did pretty good out there," Bonnie added.

"Yeah, thanks," Ash replied, wanting nothing more than to escape their lies and deceit. They were probably laughing at him inside. Without hesitation, he rushed into the elevator, forgetting that they were going to go with him. The elevator ride seemed to take forever to get to the first floor, but he finally got there. He ran to the Pokemon Center, bumping into a few people along the way. "Excuse me! Sorry!" he had said to each of them.

He quickly zoomed to Nurse Joy and gave her his two felled Pokemon, not looking into her eyes. Nurse Joy had said she was hoping to see him again, but she probably didn't expect him to be back so soon. Ash thought he heard her mutter, "You again?"

"Lost... a battle... please hurry!" he panted between his words, trying to suppress the tears that were forming in his eyes.

"How could you let this happen to them?!" Nurse Joy shouted, as she took them in.

Her outburst just made Ash all the sadder. Her words were harsh, but they were true. He should have been more responsible. _Larvesta, Pikachu, I really let you down, huh?_ He was lost in his thoughts again. _If you had a decent trainer, maybe you could have actually had a chance. You wouldn't have to come here two times an hour. You'd be strong. You'd..._

"Ash!" he heard two familiar voices yell out to him. He didn't have to look to know who they were. "Ash?"

He didn't even bother to respond. Bonnie got in front of him and tilted his head up. He forced a laugh out. "Ahahahaha!"

"Your Pokemon are fully healed!" Nurse Joy cut in, and Clemont went to get them for him. The two siblings sat on the bench next to him.

"Ash. Even though you lost, it was a good battle," Clemont assured him.

"Then explain why I lost so badly!" Ash snapped, shocked at himself. Where had this venom come from? He hung his head down.

"We don't care if you're not the strongest trainer," Bonnie began. "Why, Clemont used to lose all the time! His first battle only lasted ten seconds! He couldn't do anything!"

Clemont blushed, putting a hand over his sister's big mouth. "Bonnie!" He then faced Ash again. "Remember when I told you most challengers need four badges to even enter my gym?"

Ash nodded his head slowly. "But why me? You could have picked anyone else, maybe someone that can actually battle," Ash responded.

"It was your first battle, wasn't it? And against a gym leader, too! Don't put yourself down, you'll get the hang of it! We all start somewhere. And I could have chose anyone else, but I chose you instead," Clemont continued. "Because I saw potential in you that even most of my best challengers didn't have. Plus, you don't take it out on your Pokemon when you lose, so that's something to be admired. You're the one we're traveling with, and all of the losses in the world won't change that. Your Pokemon don't seem to care, either." He pointed to Pikachu, who was still curled up in Ash's arms.

"You're still our friend, whatever happens!" Bonnie finished with a smile.

Ash let out a laugh, this time a genuine one. "Thanks a lot, guys!" He looked down at his Pokemon and said softly, "We still have a long way to go, huh?" The two agreed with him in their language.

"The road to success will be hard and long, but you can do it!" encouraged Clemont, patting his back.

The trio got up to leave, but before they could, Nurse Joy's voice cut them off. Ash looked around and saw _two_ Nurse Joys. He rubbed his eyes, shook his head, and blinked a few times, but the mirage didn't disappear. "Huh? But you were just - I need help! I see two Nurse Joys!"

The second Nurse Joy laughed at him. "Ash, that's her cousin of Snowbelle!" Clemont told him.

"Oh..." Ash said, embarrassed, realizing she was real, as the first one looked down at him.

"I'm sorry about earlier... I didn't mean what I said back there. I'm just stressed from having to work night shift again, but that's no excuse. I'll make it up to you. Since Professor Sycamore's mysteriously gone missing." The trio glanced at each other at the mention of that name. "I'll be giving out the Kalos starters in his place." She sent them out for everyone to see. Chespin bulked up as best as it could, Fennekin curled up into a ball, and Froakie... played dead.

Weirdly, the only people in the Pokemon Center at the moment were Ash, the siblings, and the two nurses. Nurse Joy must have made sure no one else was around, which was more or less expected during the nighttime hours, as most trainers were likely in bed by now. With everything that happened from the moment he stepped into Kalos to now, he barely noticed the sky darken.

"You can go first!" Bonnie offered Ash.

"That's really nice of you!" Clemont said with a wide smile, though he seemed to want to go first himself.

Ash quickly made his choice. "I choose Froakie!" he declared, making it croak in excitement.

"I'm up next, Chespin's mine!" Clemont said, quickly taking Chespin and its ball.

"Well, that leaves only Fennekin." The nurse seemed to be contemplating on what to do. "The law says starter Pokemon can't be given to someone so young, but since you're the only one left and all three of them were to be given away, I guess that means it's yours. The person whom it was assigned to hasn't shown up, so under the condition that your receipt of this Fennekin is tied to your brother's trainer record, you may have it."

Bonnie crouched down and petted the Fire-type on the head. It made an odd purring noise under her touch. "Yay!" She couldn't contain her excitement. "I can't wait to pet it and train it and everything! Big brother, can I have it, please?"

"Of course!" Clemont answered to her immense excitement.

"Nurse Joy, I promise to - "

"Outta the way!" a rough, feminine voice yelled from behind the small child. They all looked to see a girl with long brunette hair, sunglasses covering her eyes, a black tanktop, a red dress, thigh-high socks that matched her top, and shoes with a pink Poke Ball symbol on each side. Ash's jaw dropped open at the sight of her. It was _her_. His best friend from childhood. He couldn't believe he was seeing her again, and so early, no less. He didn't realistically think he would see her again until possibly the Pokemon League, assuming he even made it that far, yet here she was in the flesh. He wondered if she would recognize him, or even if she remembered him.

Ash was rendered speechless as the girl gazed upon him.

"What ya starin' at?!" she shouted at him, her expression softening within moments. Ash had been worried that she hadn't recognized him, but his anxiety had been put to rest when she slowly approached him, taking off her sunglasses for everyone to see her light blue eyes. They lit up on recognition, and she quietly gasped. She, like Ash, was at a loss for words.

"S-Se..." Ash stammered, eventually finding his voice. "Serena?"

* * *

"I don't believe this!" The male Hero of Justice kicked a nearby rock, angry about his new mission and the person he was partnership. "I can't believe I have to work with Biff! I could have been - "

"James, calm down! Be glad you didn't get stuck with _Cassidy_! She thinks she's so perfect!" James's partner flew into a rage uncharacteristic of her demeanor.

"At least Cassidy isn't - "

"If you two are done, can you get me down from this tree?" interrupted a voice from above.

The two looked up to see Meowth on a high branch, holding its trademark coin. They usually got angry at him whenever he got himself into trouble (getting stuck on a tree was the most common), but now they couldn't muster up enough negative feelings to even scold him. If it came down between helping him down from a tree hundreds of times over and what Giovanni was having them do, they would choose the former every time.

"Our last moment of peace..." Jessie cried, as she and James scaled the tree and sat on the branch that the cat was on. James grabbed Meowth, and just as he did, the branch broke off. Jessie and James cried in horror as they landed on the hard ground, Meowth landing on top of James's head.

"...or the beginning of the end of our lives." James groaned.

"Thanks, you guys! Say, since you two are splitting up, where does that leave me?" Meowth wondered aloud.

* * *

"Ash? Ash Ketchum?!" The girl seemed just as flabbergasted as he was. She leaned forward, inspecting him very closely. Her finger traced the Z-shaped marks on his face, inciting nervous laughter from him. "It _is_ you! Missed you _so_ much!" She immediately embraced him into a tight hug. He slowly wrapped his arms around her back, returning the gesture to her.

"They know each other?" Bonnie asked her brother, who shrugged in response.

"I've seen her pass by the gym a few times, I just didn't know she knew Ash." Clemont was deep in thought. How did she know Ash, when he seemed to have just stepped into the Kalos region hours ago? Had they met right when he stepped out of the plane, and then had to split up for whatever reason? Even in a situation like that, they would only have known each other for a few hours at most. A bond could be formed within that amount of time, if not shorter, but how could they be this close to each other?

"Just like back at camp, huh?" she whispered softly.

"Yeah..." he responded back even more quietly, not wanting to be reminded of that particular time. While he enjoyed his time with Serena, there were two particular memories that he'd rather have forgotten, and she just reminded him of one of them. "And at the park..."

* * *

Many years ago, he had been on the run from a horde of feral Rattata residing in the dense woodlands, trying to find his way back to the camp entrance. They were all hot on his tail, getting closer with every attempt. His group was assigned to go on a scavenger hunt and find a few things, but he took a wrong turn and ended up outside of the assigned areas. From there, each step he took only seemed to get him further into trouble. He knew he should have paid more attention to his surroundings! Had he just sucked it up and called for help instead of trying to find the treasure on his own, he would faced probably faced a little humiliation from the others, but at least he wouldn't be in his current situation. Gary would probably think he was an idiot if he managed to make it back, and he didn't even want to imagine what the others might say.

He managed to scramble up a tree and get away from them in one of the high branches. The Rattata jumped up and gnawed at the air, and then ran off after a bit. Though he had escaped from them, a piece of his shorts had been bitten off. He then heard the familiar buzzing of a Beedrill swarm, and ducked down on the branch, realizing that calling for help now would make things worse. Luckily, the airborne pests zoomed by past him, but he wasn't quite out of the woods yet. He attempted to climb down the tree as quietly as he could, but a loud buzzing sound rang in his ears. He had inadvertently let go and started to plummet down to earth. He would be able to survive the fall with a few injuries at worst, but it's what could happen to him afterwards that he was really worried about. His fear was kicked into overdrive as a large, winged bug about a few times his size emerged from a bush, sharpening the scythes on its arms as it flew to him.

The fall hadn't hurt nearly as much as he thought it would, nor did he feel anything from the creature. In fact, the ground was actually quite... soft.

Ash dared to open his eyes to see a young girl about his age carrying him, immediately knowing that she had somehow found him and saved him from falling. She was one of his teammates from the scavenger hunt, though Ash didn't know much more about her. It was kind of embarrassing, but he was so grateful for the save that it hardly mattered; he would have to thank her later. She wore a pink outfit with a straw hat on top of her head, which had a pink ribbon tied around it. The creature now had its full attention on her, preparing to slice her up. There was a visible red mark on its torso, as well as a few rocks scattered around it on the ground. Ash had put two and two together and came to the conclusion that Serena had thrown them.

"Let's get away!" the frightened boy pleaded desperately, dashing behind a tree. He could have gotten away by now, but he didn't want to leave her behind. In case of an emergency, his hands were tightly gripped around a stick.

Not acknowledging him, the girl faked an overhead toss to the creature, who zipped to the left to avoid the feint. A stone was tossed at its left wing, swerving it off balance and causing it to crash just in front of her.

"Scy...!" Its threat was interrupted as the red and white ball that the little girl was holding got hurled at it. It opened up and converted the bug into light blue energy, which got sucked into the ball.

The tension in the air grew thicker as the ball dropped to the ground and shook wildly. To Ash's surprise, it stopped moving altogether after about ten seconds. Without fear, the girl picked it up and prepared to leave, when the teary boy caught her in a hug from behind.

"Thank you so much!" he cried profusely, tears drenching his shirt collar.

She hugged him back briefly, and they broke apart. "Let's go back." She picked up the ball she had used to catch the creature. "I hope I can use it now."

Their arms now linked together, the two of them headed back to the camp. Ash's savior was the first to break the silence. "You're Ash, right?" she asked him. His head bobbed up and down multiple times.

"Gary told me." She turned to face him. "Serena."

From there, they struck up a conversation and became close. The experience beforehand hadn't been easy for Ash, but at least he got a best friends in Serena out of it. They had disagreements and clashes here and there, but their friendship wasn't affected by it at all. They didn't see each other often, but when they did, they made sure to seize each moment. The most painful memory came about a year later.

Serena's mother told them the worst news they could ever have heard at the time, or ever: Serena had to move!

Apparently, her mother had been offered a better job opportunity all the way in Vaniville Town. Serena was in shock when she heard the news, while Ash was in tears. To try and make up for it, their mothers took them to the park together. They tried to enjoy it as much as they could, knowing they were spending their last moments together. Their mothers were too distracted by their own conversation to even hear pickup truck park nearby, but Ash and Serena heard it loud and clear. They hid inside of the tube slide and shared one final hug, not letting go of each other. No one would find them, and nothing could keep them apart! For about an hour or so, they remained hidden in the playground, only popping out when the two women were out of sight.

"Where could they be?" The weary voice of Serena's mother questioned from below them.

"We've checked the woods twice already." Delia sounded outright annoyed. "I wish I brought Mimey with me so he could track them!"

Ash and Serena shared a smile. They had successfully outwit their mothers! Maybe they could stay together forever! They would have to hide for the rest of their lives, but as long as they didn't have to move, everything was fine by them. Serena would have stayed in the woods with him, even if it meant giving up a possibly nice house in a place where she would never see him again.

"I think they're leaving again," whispered Serena, her expression turning into one of horror when her hat dropped from the slide and onto the ground. As expected, their hiding place was discovered shortly after that. Before Delia grabbed her son's legs, Ash helped heave Serena up the slide, where she could have an easier time escaping. Grace and Delia stared down at the fearful Ash.

"Where's my daughter?!" Grace almost yelled at him.

Ash came up with a lie on the spot. "S-She went to the bath... bathroom! And told me t-t-to hold this for h-her!"

They talked amongst themselves again. Ash could barely hear their conversation, but was able to make out the word "lying" at least a dozen times. The parents each grabbed one arm as they led him to the bathrooms.

"We'll check this bathroom, and you'll check that one," Delia had instructed him, as they went inside of the areas.

Ash pretended to be sad as the three met back up about a minute later, though part of him was worried. "I'm scared. What if something happened?"

"Then she'll know not to lie to her friends, or to her family," Grace said tonelessly, handing him back the hat. "Make sure she's not in the slide."

Ash quickly ran up the ladder connected to the playground. "This is the longest game of hide-and-seek ever...and our last..." He prepared to go down the slide. "Wheeee!" Of course, Serena wasn't hiding in the same place where he had gotten caught earlier. Delia and Grace had continued their search as well. Daytime had begun to turn into evening as Delia finally found Serena on a tree.

"Serena!" Grace yelled out in a stern voice, though she was relieved that nothing had happened to her daughter.

"Get down from there, right now!" Delia scolded.

"I can't," answered Serena in fake urgency.

"We'll catch you!" Grace assured her, holding out her arms, but Serena still wouldn't come down.

Delia held Ash up to almost Serena's range. Ash held her arms and held them firmly as she safely got them down. Grace and Serena embraced each other as they got back to the pickup truck, both children having received a good scolding. Serena had even gotten a spanking for the trouble that she put them through.

Ash and Serena faced each other in sadness, the mood suddenly gloomy. They were splitting apart, and there was nothing they could do about it.

A tearful Ash was the first to break the thick silence. "Goodbye, Serena, I'll miss you."

Serena stepped up to him, tears streaking her face as well. "I'll miss you too, Ash." She then pulled him into a hug. "Don't let go!" she sobbed, holding on tighter to him, with Ash following suit.

The two adults sighed in irritation as they tried in vain to separate them. Had it been much earlier in the day, when they didn't use up all of their strength just searching for Serena, they could have easily split them apart. However, tiredness was taking its toll on them. It seemed like the two women had given up trying to separate them, but the kids still kept their guards up. A few minutes later, Ash had succumbed to tiredness as well and fell asleep in the arms of his best friend, making it easier for Delia to take him away.

"Sweet dreams, Ash! Goodbye! I miss you so much!" Those were Serena's final words as she was carried to the truck, crying all the way to her destination.

Ash would wake up hours later, quickly putting two and two together. He had gotten over it after a few days, but he had spent some nights still wondering if Serena thought about him, or if she had completely moved on.

And now, after so many years apart, they were finally reunited.

* * *

Ash had to hold back a tear from the sorrowful memories that he had nearly forgotten about after so long, and seeing her again brought up all sorts of emotions. He was elated to be reunited with her again, sad that they had gone so long without seeing each other, and, as silly as it sounded, a bit angry with himself for having fallen asleep.

"Hey, don't go cryin' now! I'm here, aren't I?" she soothed the sniffling Ash, who did not let go of her. "You can leggo anytime!" she yelled in a rough voice.

He prepared to do so, but then saw the sad look on her face as he was about to release his hold. Instead, he looked directly at her. "Maybe not today..."

"We got a lotta catchin' up ta do," Serena reminded him with a grin. "Nurse Joy, I'm here for Fennekin!"

"I asked first!" Bonnie screeched. "Ash, who is this?"

"Did you not lis'n?" Serena scowled at her.

" _We don't_ _care_ who you are, Fennekin doesn't belong to you. You're not taking it from her." Clemont glared at her, getting out a Poke Ball.

"If you want a battle, you've got it!" Serena screeched, doing the same.

"QUIET!" The Nurse Joy's voice pierced through everyone's ears. She then faced Serena and sighed. "Well, you came pretty late, but you're here now. Since you're a registered Pokemon trainer already, and you were the one that claimed it, Fennekin goes to you."

Bonnie hung her head as Serena's new starter jumped on her head. Froakie was still playing dead, but when Ash's fingers ran through its tummy and tickled it, it yelped and jumped up to the ceiling in surprise. Clemont put an arm on Bonnie's shoulder. "Don't be sad, okay? You can use my Chespin at any time."

"Thank you," Bonnie responded, yawning.

"I think we could all use some rest after the day we had," Clemont pointed out, going to the desk where the other Nurse Joy was and ordering two rooms. He then took Bonnie to one of them to put her to sleep.

"So, how did you get here?" Serena wanted to know.

"Well..."

Ash told her most of his story, leaving out anything involving his mother.

* * *

"So, here's the plan..." James smirked as he took out a tablet. "This baby's going to lead us to Sycamore. Right now, he's heading to Lumiose City." Map blueprints appeared on the screen, and a red dot appeared near the center. "So, we'll head to the Lumiose Cafe, sign a few autographs, and then take him by surprise. What do you say?"

"On missions, I go by 'Agent B'!" Butch whined.

"Whatever you say... Butch." James ignored him, sneaking around the various bug Pokemon of Santalune's thick forest.

Butch fumed, reluctantly following him. "Why can't we just use our jet packs?"

"Well - " James was cut off by a couple of youngsters surrounding the two of them, pens in hand. "Sign my Poke Ball!"

They were flooded with all sorts of weird requests. One even asked him to sign her family Furfrou, who made its displeasure known by roaring fiercely at her.

"I told you we should have just flown," Butch grumbled, after signing a Pokedex with 'Agent B'. "That's a good few minutes we've lost..."

"I hope Jessie and Meowth doing better," James said to himself, as they went through the last of the autographs.

* * *

"...and so, I was promoted to Team Rocket Elite, and since then I've been a staple of Team Rocket. Oh! I forgot to tell you about the time we raided the Sinnoh region and drove Team Galactic away! I..."

"Why Meowth?" the cat muttered to himself, trying to get to sleep, but the old man was too loud.


	3. A Battle That Two Can Play At!

"Santalune City's main attraction for trainers is its gym, which, as you know, is run by Viola," Clemont was explaining to Ash and Serena, after they had woke up in the morning and hit the road. Ash and Serena had ended up falling asleep next to each other on the bench last night, a fact that no one had ever let them forget. "Speaking of which, I wonder how she's doing. In the meantime, now would be a good time to get some super training done!"

"Super training?" Ash asked, already wanting a part of it. After all, he had failed twice already.

"It allows Pokemon to hone their skills, as opposed to just making them stronger, but why don't I actually show you instead of telling you?" Clemont tossed his Poke Balls into the air to reveal his Helioptile, Chespin, and Bunnelby.

Ash eagerly released his Pokemon to the field as well. Chespin greeted the Pokemon, who then greeted him back (minus Froakie). Serena released Fennekin, as well as a Pokemon that was all too familiar to Ash: Scyther. Bonnie frowned, not having any Pokemon to release.

The moment Scyther was released, Ash, Bonnie, and the rest of the Pokemon (minus Fennekin) all cowered at the sight of it. The fact that it was sharpening its scythes didn't help matters, either.

"Come on! You're not scared of it, are you?" Serena teased them.

Ash faced the Scyther, still visibly shaking. "No." If he couldn't stand up to it, how was he ever going to get better?

Clemont didn't even seem to notice what was going on as he got out his trademark wand. Serena crossed her arms at him, and fell to the ground seconds later when a ball materialized in front of her and bopped her in the face. He stifled his laughter as Clemont spoke up, "First up, observation, evasion, and aiming. Both trainer and Pokemon will work to deflect or avoid as many as they can!"

Serena spat at the ground and got up. _He did that on purpose..._

"I love dodgeball!" Bonnie squealed in excitement, positioning herself next to Serena.

"Actually, Bonnie, I have _special_ training for you today." Bonnie's eyes lit up. "You are going to stand here and watch. Patience is a virtue, as they say. You'll also be looking out for the strengths and weaknesses of everyone. You must stay in one place, except when we're changing locations. If you can't sit still during this training session, you've failed."

"But I wanna play, too!" she whined.

"Do you want to get better, or not?" Clemont asked her, and she nodded in response. "Then get started."

"Okay!" Bonnie saluted to him, her body as stiff as a board. "This might be hard for you."

Ash covered his mouth to hold back his laughter, while Serena cackled loudly. Clemont blew a whistle and shut everyone up, signaling them to begin. He ran to the rest of the group as colorful rubber balls emerged from the air above where he was previously standing.

"Larvesta, Flame Charge to dodge as many of them as you can." Larvesta followed its trainer's orders, wreathing itself in flames. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack to evade and hit them. And Froakie, try and deflect them with Bubble." Froakie lazily observed its surroundings, while Pikachu zigzagged around the arena, the balls having already taken aim at him. Pikachu frantically aimed a jolt of lightning at a moving target, but missed and got smacked down. Froakie casually ducked under a ball, which then swerved up and descended down on its body, taking it down. Larvesta was doing pretty well; everything was incinerated upon impact with its fiery body.

Clemont's Bunnelby punched a few dodgeballs and deflected them to other incoming projectiles, then its trainer kicked another that was about to hit it from the side. Chespin seemed hesitant at first, but with Clemont's encouragement, it rammed into a ball, not wanting to disappoint. His Helioptile spread its frills, multiple bolts of electricity directing themselves at at least a dozen spheres. They dissipated upon contact with the move.

Serena's Fennekin and Scyther scratched at all of the incoming objects, tearing them to pieces. Fennekin fell over after a bit, still relatively inexperiences, but Scyther seemed tireless. Serena punched and kicked everything that dared to touch her. One of the balls that she kicked bounced towards Clemont, hitting him on the back of the head.

Clemont turned sharply at Serena. "Watch where you're aiming!"

"Watch where you're standing then!" Serena shot back.

In retaliation, Chespin rammed into Serena's Fennekin, who was sent flying back from the hit. It landed on all fours and growled at its attacker.

"Ember!"

"Bullet Seed!"

"Scratch!"

"Mud Shot!"

Ash didn't like seeing them fight, but he also knew from personal experience not to cross Serena, especially with random attacks soaring into the air every second.

"Stop it!" Bonnie cried, but neither of them seemed to hear them.

Attacks and insults were flown in every which direction as Ash and Bonnie tried their best to stop the commotion. Larvesta shook and released wads of string to restrain the two of them and their Pokemon. Bonnie slowly walked up to the two of them.

"Please stop fighting," the tear-filled Bonnie pleaded.

Serena looked down at her. "Wow, another crybaby!?"

"I'm not a baby!" insisted Bonnie, though Serena's laughter drowned out her words.

Clemont got ready to say something, but then started scratching his back furiously. "Why... do... I... feel... so... itchy...!"

Serena, suddenly feeling itchy, had her Fennekin scratch her arms. Bonnie rubbed her legs against the ground, and Ash comically grinded his back on the ground. The creatures were all itching, too, though Chespin seemed to be getting the worst of it. Suddenly, Bonnie felt a slimy substance on her arm. She squealed and shook it, easily removing it. It squelched itself to reveal a light purple, gooey, slug-like creature with green cheeks.

Ash instantly took an interest in it and consulted his Pokedex, momentarily forgetting about his back. " _Goomy, the Soft Tissue Pokémon, and the weakest of all Dragon-types. In order to keep its body moist, Goomy lives in places where it's dark and damp. There are plenty of other Dragon-types in the sea._ "

"Looks weak, too," Serena commented.

Ash looked at his Dex in confusion, wondering when it had developed a sense of humor. He then turned to Goomy, who now wore a tight frown on its cute face. "Not to me. This one's mine! Larvesta, go!"

The fire bug crawled up in front of Ash and awaited its command. He focused on the Goomy, making the first move. "Larvesta, Bug Buzz!" Its mouth opened as a loud wail emitted from its mouth, crimson sound waves releasing from its body and transferring to the small dragon Pokemon, hitting it on impact. The Goomy squealed in pain, but stood its ground. "Do it again!" Larvesta repeated its attack.

Bonnie pointed at the Goomy. "Is that move supposed to take that long?" Indeed, there was still a red aura outlined around it, similar to the waves of Bug Buzz.

Clemont's jaw dropped. "Ash, watch out for its Bide!"

Ash frantically reached for a Poke Ball. "Whatever that is, we're not having it! Poke Ball, go!" He tossed it at the Goomy, who looked down at the ground. Right before the capsule touched it, it unleashed a large, bright beam of light to the ground to propel itself out of range of the ball. When the attack made impact on the ground, clouds of dust were kicked up, obstructing everyone's view. They all covered their lower faces with their arms as the dust started to get into their noses.

"Scyther, Razor Wind!" Serena said between coughs. Razor-sharp wind blades cut through the dust and got it all out of the way.

Ash looked around for the Goomy, but it had long escaped his grasp. "It got away..." he whispered to himself.

Serena put an arm on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it! There's always next time, right?"

Ash slowly looked into her beautiful, sparkling blue eyes. Her cute smile warmed up his heart, assuring him that everything would be okay. He had grown to love it overtime. Ash wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed earlier, but - NO! What was he thinking? He couldn't think of her that way, she was his childhood friend! He didn't want to do anything to ruin their friendship. Besides, they had just reunited yesterday! He couldn't think of how soft her arm felt around his neck. In fact, he couldn't think of her at all! He had training to do! In the background, Pikachu snickered to himself as it ran off into a nearby path.

"Wait, Pikachu, come back!" Ash cried out, as he ran after it, Serena running alongside him. Bonnie and the Pokemon trailed behind them, and the chase was on. Pikachu ran past a bunch of roller skaters, distracting them momentarily. Secretly, Ash was glad for the distraction, as it kept him from thinking about Serena's beauty...

Suddenly, Clemont zipped past everyone and caught Pikachu from the side.

"You've been baaad," Bonnie teased the rodent, as everyone recalled their Pokemon. "I hope we can make it to Santalune soon."

"If we keep up the pace, I don't see why not!" Clemont responded, falling back in step with the others. "After all, we're on Route 4."

Ash and Serena were leading the way, reminiscing about the past years.

"Remember when we were being chased that time? I thought we'd never make it out of Route 1 alive!" Serena exclaimed.

"Yeah! Those Spearow were really gaining on us!" Ash replied, shuddering at the memory. _Wasn't as bad as what mom did..._

"You said you haven't been here before," Bonnie pointed out.

"I haven't?" Ash answered in puzzlement.

"We're talking about _Kanto_ Route 1, so butt out, nosy!" Serena sharply turned to the young girl.

"You don't have to be so mean!" Bonnie argued.

"Aw, I'm sorry, will you feel better if I get you a glass of mi - oof!" Serena suddenly felt something knock her over. The other three rushed towards her, as well as the girl that tripped the two over. The tanned girl wore a yellow helmet, a white top, black biker shorts, protective gear, and roller skates that matched the colors of the rest of her outfit.

"I'm sorry, miss, are you okay?" Bonnie asked, helping her up.

"Don't be sorry, little girl, she's the one that owes me an apology," The roller skater gave a quiet growl in Serena's direction.

As Serena was helped up by Ash, she glared at the person facing her. " _You're_ the one who bumped into _me_! Besides, you were in the way!"

"I was not!" the skater retorted, and the two were reduced to expletives.

"Calida? Where are you?" a voice called from the distance.

"Over here, Roland!" the now named girl called back, now forgetting about her argument with Serena.

A dark-skinned boy skated towards Calida with a Poke Ball in his hand. He wore a white helmet and shirt with turquoise shorts. His shirt had a stripe the same color as his shorts on it. Like Calida, his roller skates matched the colors of his clothing.

"What did you catch?" Calida wanted to know.

"You'll see," Roland replied to her. "It's eager to show what it can do in battle!"

Calida smiled. "I'd like to take her on first."

"Now we're talking!" Serena agreed. "I'm just dying to show you how powerful I am!"

Roland pointed to Ash. "You! Battle me!"

Ash stepped back, not sure if he was ready for a battle just yet. "I'm not really - "

"Come on, Ashy! Make it a double battle!" Serena encouraged him. After thinking about it for a few seconds, Ash agreed to the offer. He just hoped he could actually win this time, and not embarrass himself in front of everyone.

"So, one Pokemon each?" Calida inquired.

Serena tossed the Pokeball containing her Fennekin. "Sounds good to me!"

Roland released a common bird Pokemon that Ash had seen numerous times in Kanto, that being Pidgey. Meanwhile, Calida sent a bird Pokemon that Ash was less familiar with to the field. It was a white robin-like creature with a red-orange head. Ash scanned its image with his Pokedex.

 _"You're on Route 4 and haven't seen a Fletchling yet?"_ It gave a robotic sigh. _"It is one of the most common Pokemon of the Kalos region. Not much more to say."_

Ash had first thought to use Pikachu, but then decided that he hadn't trained Froakie enough yet. The main reason he went with Froakie in the end was because it he lost, at least it wouldn't be as embarrassing. "Froakie, come on out!" The light blue frog came out with a yawn, looking quite bored. Fletchling eyed its opponents cautiously. Just as Roland said, his Pidgey was hyped and itching to go. Fennekin growled at the two birds.

"Good luck! Remember to put your training to good use!" Bonnie cheered.

 _I'd like Ash to win, but on the other hand, some people need to be taught a lesson..._ Clemont thought.

"Pidgey, Sand-Attack!"

Roland began the battle as his Pidgey flew low above the ground, digging into the ground with its wing. It then whipped up sand at Froakie, who jumped above it on Ash's command and landed on a tree branch.

"Great dodge! Now toss your frubbles!" Ash yelled, and his Froakie dug into its mane of white, foamy bubbles and tossed them downward. Pidgey and Fletchling easily dodged them and swerved in a helix pattern around each other to try and keep Froakie off guard.

"Redirect your Quick attack to Fennekin!" requested Calida.

Fletchling obediently turned to the Fire-typed starter and aimed to attack it, picking up more speed as it did so.

"Sidestep!" Serena shouted.

Fennekin jumped to the side to avoid the incoming attack, but Fletchling made a sharp turn. Fennekin braced itself for impact, though the attack didn't hurt as much as it thought it would. She noted a piece of foam from the ground stuck on Fletchling's wing, limiting its capabilities in the air.

"Ember!" Serena commanded, her Fennekin showing no mercy as small balls of fire shot from its open mouth into Fletchling's face at point-blank range, causing singe marks to form on it, although most of the foam on its wing had been burned off.

Meanwhile, Pidgey was trying to take Froakie down from the tree.

"Pidgey, try a Gust!" Roland told it, and, true to the name of the attack, the bird beat its wings violently and gathered up a gust of wind that knocked Froakie down from the tree and sent it crashing to the ground.

"Froakie, get up!" Ash said, but it didn't move a muscle. "No..." he cried in despair. Was he really that weak? He had lost before, but never in one hit. Now Serena was on her own, and they had no chance of winning. He was too lost in his thoughts to even recall it.

Fennekin was trying to bat both Flying-types away, but when it put its focus on one, the other would attack it from behind.

"Quick Attack!" both Roland and Calida commanded, and their Pokemon zoomed towards the lone Fennekin, going in for the final blow. Froakie then immediately got up and gave a loud croak, stopping them in their tracks and shocking everyone.

"F-Froakie, you can still go on?" Ash's heart lit up when Froakie shot bubbles at both of its opponents, who were off-guard from its sudden recovery. It was almost like it was pretending to have fainted to give itself more time to recover. A light bulb lit up in Ash's head; based on its expressions and movements from the point he had obtained it until now, that might have very well been the case. Whatever it was, Ash wasn't going to give up now! He smiled as both of the opponents were assaulted by the rapid stream of bubbles.

"Pidgey, Gust!" Roland instructed.

It had flapped its wings again, but its movements were noticeably slower than before, its fur having soaked up too much water. Froakie had ample time to bounce up to it and pound it into the ground. The bubbles had affected Fletchling's speed too, as it was now unable to land a single hit on Fennekin. Fennekin waited for Fletchling to get close to it before jumping over the attack and on

"Froakie, bounce on Pidgey!" yelled Ash. The Bubble Frog Pokemon crouched and tightened its limbs, then loosened them as it leaped high above a confused Pidgey. It could only watch as Froakie landed down on it, hard. Fennekin waited for Fletchling to get close to it before jumping over the attack and onto its opponent, its weight swerving it off balance. Fennekin scratched its body up a few times before jumping off, leaving red marks on its backside.

"Finish it, use Ember!" Serena declared confidently.

"Bubble!" Ash added.

Two more attacks lived up to their given names as aquatic bubbles and embers of fire were spewed from the users' mouths and hit the two Flying-types to finish them off. Roland and Calida were slack-jawed, having watched their Pokemon fall. Ash was beside himself with happiness. His first double battle with Serena, and they won! Froakie had given him quite the scare for a while, but everything worked out for the better in the end.

Serena recalled her Fennekin indifferently. "Too easy. Like I said, you were no match." She smirked at Calida for good measure.

"I won... we won..." It took moments for the realization to really sink in. "...WE DID IT!" he cheered, picking up his tearful Froakie and jumping for joy. Froakie seemed pretty happy about winning, too.

"Great battle!" Roland told Ash, who thanked him in return while rubbing the back of his head with the hand that wasn't holding Froakie. They then shook hands, with Froakie springing up and slapping their hands in a gesture that was probably supposed to be a high-five.

Calida folded her arms at Serena. "You win one battle, and suddenly you think you're the greatest? Give me a break! Come on, Roland, let's go." Before skating away, she waved at Bonnie, who waved back at her.

"Bye, everyone!" Roland shouted, and then followed Calida.

Bonnie stared at their retreating figures. "I hope we see her again."

"You know what, so do I! She needs another loss!" Serena agreed with the little girl for the first time... well, partially agreed.

"Wait, that's not what - " Bonnie began, before stopping herself. There was no use trying to get her to see eye-to-eye with Calida.

The quartet then continued their journey. Serena looked at Ash, reminiscing on another memory. "This reminds me of the time we first met in camp."

Ash smiled at her. "It's amazing, isn't it? If I wasn't forced to go, we never would have met."

"Maybe I should get Scyther to chase you again to better replicate that moment!" Serena joked.

"Uh... n-no thanks," Ash answered nervously, taking a few steps back.

"Relax, Ashy! I was kidding! Besides, I'd have saved you again!" Serena assured him.

"Y-Yeah." Ash smiled weakly.

* * *

While not nearly as impressive as Lumiose City, the city of Santalune was still beautiful in its own right. The plants surrounding the city and its buildings were all neatly trimmed. A few bugs nested on them, further pushing the image of the city with the bug-type gym leader. Just as the sign said, the city was traditional, not doing much to stand out, but then it didn't need to.

They went to the Pokemon Center to heal up their Pokemon, and Clemont gave his sister money to buy candy at the Poke Mart. Minutes later, they met in front of a large, green building with street lights in front of the entrance.

"Are you two ready for the gym?" Clemont asked Ash and Serena.

"You kidding? I was born ready!" Serena answered.

"As expected from you," Clemont remarked, chuckling to himself.

"What about you, Ash?" Bonnie gave him her full attention.

"Of course! I won't lose!" He was feeling a lot more confident than before since he won his first battle alongside Serena. "Okay, Viola, ready or not, I'm here for my badge!"

* * *

Additional Notes:

Calida and Roland are based on nobodies, see the Kalos_Route_4 article on Bulbagarden.


	4. A Picture Perfect Moment Of Glory!

"AAAAHHHHH!"

Screams of fear filled the Santalune Gym.

Ash and Serena were treated to the most horrible sights of their lives... things that shouldn't even be in a gym, or any gallery, for that matter! The photos hung on the walls were filled with scary images of bug Pokemon zoomed in, the absolute worst one being that of a gross closeup shot of a Beedrill's eye.*

The two of them held on to each other in fear, and laughter rang in their ears. They turned around to see Clemont and Bonnie pointing and laughing at them.

"You should have seen yourselves!" Clemont exclaimed, between fits of laughter. "You were so scared!"

"I hope Viola heard that!" Bonnie howled, tears leaking out of her eyes. "They..." She then rolled on the ground."

"Okay, you've had your fun, now let's go!" Ash yelled loudly at them, knowing they couldn't hear him.

"Alright, alright, we're going." Clemont stopped laughing for a moment, but then couldn't help himself and fell to the ground.

"We don't have time for dis!" an irritated Serena complained, grabbing onto a rope that was dangling over a pitfall in the middle of the room. Ash shook in fear as he looked down to see a giant cobweb that was probably supposed to be the ground.

"Serena!" he cried in worry, as she landed on the center, which wiggled up and down. She gazed up at him and smiled.

"It's safe!"

"Alright, if you say so." Ash still wasn't sure, but tightly grabbed the rope, wrapping his arms and legs around it. Turning his head towards the blond siblings, he called, "So long! Don't let the bedbugs bite!" Slowly but surely, he slipped down the rope, stepped one foot on the web, and then fully stood on it. It wobbled a bit, but Serena managed to steady him.

Serena noticed that some of the silk threads were thicker and brighter than others. She stepped on a thin web thread to her right to see what would happen, and it crumbled, then had Ash step on a thick one to his left, which managed to withstand his weight. Their eyes darted around the gym to see which strings were safe.

"So, I guess we're going in a spiral with a few alternate paths," Ash noted, making some finger movements.

"Alright, go for it then!" Serena pushed him towards the path that he pointed at. He had almost tripped, but managed to regain his balance. Every few seconds, they heard what sounded like a camera shutter sound effect.

Meanwhile, Bonnie and Clemont were making their way down. Bonnie had lost her grip and fell on Serena. The web, again, seesawed up and down. Ash had to lie on the thread he was standing on and hold on to it until it stopped.

Bonnie quickly got up. "Sorry, Ash!" She then looked down at her dress to see sticky wads of silk stuck to it. "Ew!"

"How 'bout me?" Serena snapped at the small girl. "I'm the one you landed on!"

Bonnie's eyes widened and her lips pursed, as if about to cry, but Clemont comforted his sister, and carried her up on his back. Serena scoffed at them and turned to Ash, who had recovered and had nearly made it to the area that looked almost like a large photo booth with curtains wrapped around it. Cameras were plastered everywhere. It was the size of an average battlefield, almost as big as the ones Ash had seen on TV.

As he stepped on the wooden floor, he felt a vibration around his wrist. It was only then that he remembered his Pokegear. He quickly took it out to see Misty's name on it. She had called at the perfect time, as she loved bugs.

"Hello? Misty?" Ash answered, putting his mouth closer to the device for her to better hear him.

"Ash! I was wondering if you'd ever pick up! I was worried about you!" Misty told him. "Where are you in Kalos? How is the egg? Did it hatch? Did you give it a nickname? Did you catch any other Pokemon? Are you traveling alone?" Her last question was laced with worry.

"Whoa, slow down there, I can't keep up!" Ash sweat-dropped. "You're going to love this: I'm in Santalune City, and I'm about to take on the gym! The egg hatched into a Larvesta without a nickname! My other Pokemon are a Pikachu, and a Froakie. I'm traveling with a friend of mine I met in a camp years ago, a gym leader, and his little sister! Uh, Misty? You still there?"

She laughed in the background. "And you were telling me to slow down! What's the interior of the gym like?"

"You're not gonna believe it." Ash tried to find the right words to describe it without it sounding too unbelievable.

"Who is that?" Bonnie wondered, as Ash started to describe what he saw.

"He said the name 'Misty'," Clemont informed her.

"...And that's pretty much it! I don't see Viola anywhere..." Ash concluded.

"Over here!" a young adult-sounding female voice called from the opposite side, moving from her place behind a large camera tripod. The sandy blonde beauty was wearing a white blouse exposing part of her stomach, dark green pants with white cuffs, and black boots. Her dark green eyes glinted at Ash, and with a bright smile, said, "Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt anything." She had a small camera strapped around her arm, and another, larger one around her neck. The big one had a Poke Ball on the lens.

"Gotta go! I'll catch ya later!" Ash said to Misty, ending the call and unrolling his jacket sleeve back over the watch before Viola could really inspect him.

"So, my gallery didn't scare you out of your wits, huh?" Viola taunted.

"Nope!" Ash's expression became more focused.

"Oh, really?" Viola took out a picture from her pocket and showed it off to him. It displayed Ash and Serena holding each other.

"H-Hey, how'd you ge - "

Ash's cries were overshadowed by Serena's. "WHEN THIS IS OVER, I'LL COME OVER THERE AND RIP YOU APART!"

Viola turned at the direction where she heard her voice. "Clemont! Bonnie! I didn't see you two!"

"Good evening, Miss Viola," Bonnie recited, dipping her head down.

"Sure is nice seeing you here!" Clemont exclaimed, a slight blush on his face.

"Well, of course! Why wouldn't I be at my own gym?" Viola gave him an amused smile, and he suddenly developed an interest in the spider web. Bonnie and Serena giggled quietly at him.

"If you thought my gallery of bugs was scary." The Poke Ball in Viola's huge camera shot forward at Ash and opened up to reveal a blue, round-bodied bug with four skinny legs, and a yellow cap on its head with an antenna. It also had blush marks on its face, not unlike Clemont.

Ash scanned it with his Pokedex. This time, it didn't make a wisecrack. " _Surskit, the Pond Skater Pokémon. Surskit inhabits ponds, rivers, and similar wetlands. They move about as though skating the water surface. Type: Water/Bug._ "

"Let's see how good it is against Pikachu," Ash said to himself. "I choose you!" Out came the electric mouse, though it seemed more like it was ready to play than battle. "Pikachu, this is your first gym battle, are you up for it?"

Pikachu nodded its head, then went behind Ash and attempted to push him into the field. Everyone sweat dropped at its antics. Ash made a bunch of negative symbols with his hands.

"Pikachu, no. You're the one battling," Ash reminded it. Pikachu took its place back in front of Surskit, this time on all fours. Deciding to play it safe, he asked Viola to have the first move.

"Why, thank you, dear!" she gushed. "Surskit, Bubble Beam!"

It skated across the field and shot multiple sparkling blue bubbles at Pikachu, who stared at them in awe.

"Agility!" Ash countered quickly, and his Pikachu zigzagged away from the bubbles. When the bubbles stopped coming, Pikachu was running much faster than before. Surskit's eyes couldn't keep up with its movements. "Great job so far! Use Quick Attack!"

To say that Ash was elated as Pikachu rammed into Surskit from behind was an understatement. Granted, the battle had only just begun, but he didn't expect to get in a good hit this early into the match.

Viola went back behind her tripod and prepared to snap a photo. "Let's see a picture perfect Ice Beam!"

Ash's eyes widened in fear. "Get away from it and try and get in a Thundershock!"

Pikachu swerved through the beams of ice, most of them with ease, though a few almost managed to hit it. "Pikachu, now!" Its trainer commanded, and it released electricity from its body for a direct hit at its opponent. However, when it tried to follow Ash's next order, it slipped and slid on the ice floor created by all of the missed Ice Beams.

"Oh, no!" Ash desperately reached for a Poke Ball, and prepared to recall Pikachu.

"Infestation!"

Ash aimed the recall beam at Pikachu. At that moment, Surskit summoned small bugs from its mouth to quickly gather around Pikachu and make it itchy. Ash thought the move looked familiar, before realizing that it was the same move that infected everyone back when he tried to catch that wild Goomy. The beam hit Pikachu, but didn't recall it. Panic filled Ash's head as Viola followed up on her previous move.

"Now, Surskit, Double Team!"

Surskit slid on the ice around Pikachu, a lot faster than Ash had ever seen Pikachu go. It almost seemed like there were multiple Surskit... wait, there actually were. How was Ash to get rid of them? He couldn't switch out, he couldn't move on ice, he couldn't hit them, he couldn't get rid of the bugs on Pikachu, he couldn't scare - that's it!

"Growl, Pikachu!" Ash watched as a squeaky growl escaped his Pikachu's mouth. The small bugs on the lower half of its body scattered away from him, and the false images of Surskit began to dissipate one by one. That was two problems taken care of, but he still had to deal with the ice, and Viola wasted no time reminding him.

"We have other ways to slow you down! Icy Wind!"

Surskit kept its distance from Pikachu and blew a chilling wind with light blue sparkles at Ash's Pokemon. Pikachu frantically slid to the left, but the attack still caught it. It shivered as the wind chilled it to the bone.

"Okay, Pikachu, return!" Ash, again, tried to recall it, but Surskit spewed thick white clouds of mist from its mouth that prevented him from seeing exactly where he was.

"Fell Stinger!" Viola crowed with excitement.

Ash didn't know what that move was, and it looked he wouldn't be finding out now, thanks to the vision-obscuring mist. All he could hear was the sound of Surskit's legs skating on the icy battlefield.

"Pikachu, listen to me! This might sound crazy, but it's our only shot at victory! Thundershock on the ground!" Ash gritted his teeth

"Piiii... ka... CHUUUUU!"

An explosion near the middle of the battlefield sounded off, picking up some dust and blowing away some of the mist. Surskit's high-pitched cry was heard, and the dust cleared to reveal the ice under Pikachu gone. Ice chunks were headed towards Surskit, who was sent flying back from the impact of the Thunderbolt on the field.

"Remove them with String Shot!" Viola yelled in urgency. It secreted wads of string from its mouth to remove the ice that was heading towards it.

Ash had Pikachu jump on one of the pieces so that when Surskit tried to lift it away with its strings, it would be too heavy. Right as the projectile hit its victim, Pikachu jumped off of it and tilted its body down to face it.

"Thundershock again!"

Another jolt of lightning struck the pesky bug. Viola gasped in worry: Any attack would be overpowered by Pikachu at the angle it was in. She had no choice but to watch as her Surskit fainted from the super-effective attack. A camera on her side ejected a photo of her fallen Pokemon.

Ash praised his Pikachu for a job well done, and was able to recall it this time.

"Not bad, but this one's worth a thousand words!" Viola replaced her Surskit with a butterfly with multicolored wings that looked almost pixelated. All cameras focused on it as it flew over and around the field.

"Her star Pokemon..." Clemont said in awe.

"It's beautiful!" praised Bonnie. "I want one too!"

Serena folded her arms, not the least bit impressed with what she saw.

Ash took a minute to decide which Pokemon he would use. Larvesta had the type advantage, but Froakie had more aerial mobility, which would render most of Vivillon's flying capabilities useless. First, Ash scanned the Pokemon in front of him.

" _Vivillon, the Scale Pokémon. Vivillon are skillfully able to find a source of water. It has been said that you'll find a spring if you follow a Vivillon. Why don't you follow it and see if you find an_ _ **indoor**_ _spring?_ "

Ash routinely pocketed it and threw the Poke Ball containing Larvesta on a part of the battlefield that wasn't iced. It timidly observed its icy surroundings and shuddered a bit.

"It's alright, Larvesta, you can trust me. I'll be with you all the way," Ash assured it soothingly. Larvesta stared up at its airborne adversary, all traces of fear disappearing. "Larvesta, start off with Ember!" Ash instructed, as its five fire-like horns lit up and sent small embers up at Vivillon. The butterfly swerved around the attack with one flap of its wings, to Ash's shock.

"Vivillon, Gust," Viola said in a monotone voice. She didn't seem much into the battle anymore, and just watched as Vivillon beat its wings multiple times and created a small tornado of wind. It picked up ice shards on its way to Larvesta.

"Flame Charge out of the way!" cried Ash in desperation.

The Torch Pokemon wreathed itself in flames and zipped to the side, narrowly avoiding the fierce attack. Fortunately, the fire-typed attack was too weak to melt the water below it, but was just strong enough so that it wouldn't slip. The tornado dissipated and the ice chunks fell all around the battlefield.

"Powder."

The Bug/Flying-type released pink specks of powder from its wings and coated Larvesta in them. Larvesta's attack immediately blew up on it, not only rendering the attack useless, but damaging it. Larvesta crawled back up on its legs in pain, a few singe marks on its white fur, and a few particles of powder remaining on its body.

"So, what are you going to do without your fire moves?" Viola asked Ash.

Ash stared down at the field intensely. He knew he should have used Froakie! Now with Larvesta's type advantage nullified, he stood no chance. If he had been allowed to use his full team, he might have had a chance, but this was a two-on-two battle. He knew that if he tried to switch Larvesta out, Vivillon would just use Infestation to prevent him from doing so. Its bug type attacks wouldn't do much good. Pikachu was likely still tiring from its battle with Surskit. What was he to do? It was just hopeless... if he threw in the towel, he could at least save himself the -

"Ashy! Don't let her beat you! It aint over 'til you getchur badge!" Serena shouted from the sidelines. "Beat her into the ground and take it from her so we can leave this bug-infested heap!"

"She's right for one time!" Bonnie added. "Go! Go! GO!"

"You can't put your training to waste! Show her all you've learned!" Clemont yelled.

Ash's head moved back up at Vivillon, and suddenly, things didn't seem so impossible anymore. "I've got it..." he whispered, and then raised his voice. "String Shot!"

Larvesta spit a thread of string from its mouth at Vivillon, who flew below the move, which landed harmlessly on the ground. Larvesta crawled towards it in an attempt to ram into it, but the Larvesta crawled towards it and attempted to ram into it, but the flier just swerved above the Pokemon. Vivillon's wings blew the remaining powder away from Larvesta and into Ash's face. He shook them off and sneezed.

"Not bad, Ash! But the gloves are off now!" Viola seemed more interested in the battle now than she ever had. "Time to kick things up a notch with Supersonic!"

Her prized Pokemon gave off a loud, high pitched screech that emitted supersonic waves that looked and sounded more like a Hyper Voice attack that Ash had seen countless times in televised league matches. Everyone had to cover their ears aside from Viola, who seemed to be used to it. The icy battlefield shattered, and the screeches rang through Larvesta's ears. When the move wore off, Larvesta writhed about in a heap.

"Don't panic! Just have a calm mind!" Ash coached, as it stood in place for a few minutes, then hummed quietly. Its eyes remained closed.

"Vivillon, Quiver Dance before it tries anything!" Viola instructed.

Vivillon flew around in an erratic pattern to try and catch its opponent off guard.

"Use your foresight to tie it up with another string shot!" Ash hoped that Viola didn't catch his hidden order.

The tension only grew thicker as another wad of string spewed out of Larvesta's mouth, getting closer to Vivillon... and closer... Vivillon flew above it... the string curved and wrapped around its left wing. Ash breathed a sigh of relief, while the others were slack-jawed.

"N-No way!" Viola stuttered. _H-How did he do t-that?! No matter, I'll just force it off!_ "Swing it away!"

With only one usable wing, Vivillon found it tough to actually try and carry Larvesta, but it managed it, albeit barely. Strategies formulated in Ash's mind.

"String Shot!" Ash's Larvesta repeated its previous action, this thread sticking on one of Vivillon's antennas.

"Poison Powder with your free wing!"

Vivillon's untied wing released a thick cloud of poison towards Larvesta. Ash smiled, things were going better than he expected.

"Harden!" he told his Pokemon. It stiffened its muscles as a faint glow shined over it. Gravity did the work for it as it was pulled down to the ground alongside Vivillon, who was flailing around helplessly. It actually ended up going inside of the poison cloud, before getting slammed into the ground. "Ember!"

The boost from the earlier Calm Mind ensured that Larvesta's next attack was stronger than usual, a few balls of fire about its own size shooting at the crippled bug-type. Vivillon cried in pain as each of the attacks hit it; even its stat increase from Quiver Dance didn't much help. It tried to ascend away from the blaze-covered Larvesta, which was preparing to ram into it, but poison got the best of it, and it ended up taking the hit.

Viola stood there wordlessly as the camera on her side snapped a photo of her fainted Pokemon.

Ash examined his surroundings for a few seconds, then down at Larvesta, who was pretty battered up. "Did I... did I win? I did it! I beat my first gym battle!" Larvesta was too tired to properly celebrate, and so collapsed in a heap. Ash came to it and picked it up gently. His friends then rushed over to him.

"I didn't doubt ya for a second!" Clemont cheered, giving him a back pat. "I knew you'd do it!"

Bonnie gave Ash a hug, and Serena outdid her with a bigger one. Viola tossed something small to Ash. He caught it with his teeth, then took a look at it. It was a light brown symbol that looked like a bug's face from a top-down view. Its glowing green eyes stared into Ash's.

"So how's Joltik?" Clemont wanted to know. Bonnie shivered at the mention of it, and Viola simply handed Clemont a Poke Ball. She then looked at Ash and asked for his contact information.

Clemont decided to save him the embarrassment of not owning a Holocaster, "I can always inform him if you ever want a rematch."

Serena decided to leave now and tried to leave the gym the same way they got here, but the silk thread fell under her weight, not being nearly as sturdy as before. Ash immediately dived after her and grabbed her arm, then hoisted her up with all of his strength with the help of the others. An ocean blue pair of eyes met two chocolate brown eyes for a few moments. Bonnie gathered a few pictures and placed them in her pocket.

"Could have just used the exit." The curtain behind Viola opened up to reveal that it led back to the gallery.

"I'll be back tomorrow for my battle!" Serena declared as the group of four went through the open curtain and out of the gym.

The rest of the night was relatively uneventful as they went to the Pokemon Center, ate dinner, and headed to sleep (Ash slept in late from having spent a while admiring his gym badge). The next day wasn't much more notable. Serena's gym battle was pretty boring in comparison to Ash's, and she won her gym badge quite easily. Then, Bonnie went to a trainer's school in the city. She befriended a few Pokemon and learned about type advantages and status conditions, but besides that, nothing got done.

Afterwards, they headed to the Santalune Forest. The grass was much longer than that of the average route. The large trees prevented much sunlight from shining on the forest, though a few spots of light still got through. Bushes and other plans on the sides rustled from the wind blowing. Except for a few hikers and bug enthusiasts, the area was quite empty.

"We've got em now," a deep voice announced from Bonnie's side. She immediately whirled her head to the wooden sign, but it remained an inanimate object.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, a bit scared now.

The bushes rustled again, much louder than usual, and this time it seemed to be coming from behind them.

"Let's go, now!" Bonnie shrieked, making a run for it, but a pair of arms grabbed her. "EEK!"

"Bonnie!" Clemont ran to her direction, and the sign fell over to reveal a dark-haired man wearing a tuxedo with two shades of brown and black dress shoes. The defining feature of his outfit was his light purple tie. Out of the bushes came cops, as well as a row of dark brown cubs with fiery mohawks between their large ears. The hikers and bug catchers they had seen earlier had turned out to be cops in disguise.

"Wait! What'd we do?!" Serena demanded to know. Bonnie cried hysterically, and Clemont tried to get the man to let go of her. Ash was lost in his thoughts. They hadn't done anything and they already had people after them. This day couldn't get any worse.

They had all circled around the four menacingly, their Pokemon taking the forefront. "You four are under arrest, courtesy of the International Police."

*Original image by FinnAkira, I just zoomed it in. Link to said image: i. imgur 0Y5rSD8. png? 1


End file.
